Project

Limited 10

Diary of a Pistol Build

Jason Lisenbey

Competition Firearms

Project Limited 10

2

The following pages are notes and observations that I made while building this pistol. The dates on the head-ings are not necessarily the day the work was done, but when I made the diary entry. The pictures included are not meant for instruction, but rather they are to illustrate what I am talking about in the text of the entry. My hope is that while reading through these pages you will under-

stand the process that ended with this pistol.

Jason Lisenbey

3

For this project, I wanted to build something

requiring more skill. I was also looking to get

that “cool” factor that often results in men buy-

ing new toys.

This class is focused on competition fire-

arms and I have recently been interested in

USPSA competition. At first I wanted to try

building an open gun. This definitely hits the

cool factor mark, but from what I understand

you may have to build your ammunition to

work the gun you just built. I have a tendency

to go too far and try to learn too many new

skills at once.

I instead decided to build a pistol for Lim-

ited competition. Since I was scaling down, I

might as well go down a little more and make a

transition pistol for those moving up from Sin-

gle Stack to Limited 10. This will be a Limited-

style gun with a slim grip for those who prefer

it.

This is what I had in mind when deciding

what parts to order. The diary of the build fol-

lows.

Jason Lisenbey

Project Limited 10

4

Here is the slide. It is a STI Unique

slide is totally bald. That means there are no cuts on it yet.

Here is the frame. It is a STI Master frame. It is a single

stack 1911 frame with a long dust cover.

This will be my first time to fit a slide to a frame. It seems that

the typical way to do it is to work on the frame rails with files

and stones until it is a tight fit, then use lapping compound to

get it the rest of the way there. I don’t want to do it that way.

My plan is to use only files and stones to get it to fit. The idea

is when you lap it in, there has to be room for the lapping

compound between slide and frame. With stones only, a bet-

ter, tighter, and smoother fit can be achieved.

I have measured the slot in the frame rails. It is 0.110”.

The bottom rail on the slide is 0.120”.

Figure 1 - STI "Unique" slide, bald

Figure 2 - STI "Master" frame. The dust cover is meant to extend the length of the slide.

Aug 20, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

5

I think this means that I

will have to remove

about 0.010” from the

bottom of the slide to fit

it in the frame rails.

That’s a lot for files and

stones. It may be bet-

ter to mill it off. I’m

afraid that my milling

skills aren’t very good

and I may make a mis-

take.

I saw a video on

YouTube in which a

guy was selling a fix-

ture for stoning the

frame rails. I got excit-

ed about it and wanted

to make it in the shop.

After studying the

frame, I’ve decided that

it is already easy

enough to stone the rails and keep them square. I won’t

make the fixture (for now).

I’m going to take material off the bottom

surface of the slide by hand. I’ll meas-

ure my progress by slide overall height.

Right now it is 1.000”. I’ll use sandpa-

per and stones for this.

A fellow student is using a magnet to

hold the sandpaper. The magnet pro-

vides the force and you just slide it back

and forth. Seems like a pretty good

trick.

Figure 3 - the rails on the frame

Slot is 0.110”

Rail is 0.098”

Figure 4 - the rails on the slide

Remove metal

Slot is 0.100”

Rail is 0.120”

Figure 5 - Frame rail fitting fixture sold by Buchanan Gunsmithing

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I’ve come to real-

ize that when you

do this by hand,

there is no way to

know if you are

making flat cuts.

On a mill, they are

flat, but may be

tapered.

I started around

10:00 am, and it is

11:30. I still have

around 5 thou to

go. I’m switching

to a mill file.

Hopefully I will

keep straight lines.

I have totally regressed to the 1st semester. I am using eve-

rything I learned making the tap plate in order to keep the

bottom surface of the slide flat.

Okay, its 1 pm and I have the bottom edge of the slide to

within a couple of thousandths. I’m going to start working on

the frame rail width. They measure 0.765”. The channel

width in the slide is 0.750”. In order to fix this, I need to put

the frame in the mill. I should have went to the mill this morn-

ing.

Talked to George for a while. He showed me the Brownell’s

slide/frame rail file. It’s simple a pillar file with some of the

teeth ground off. I tried using it, but all I can figure it is good

for is de-burring getting out uneven areas. I think I can grind

my own files.

I’m going to shut it down for today and set up a mill in the

morning. It’s 2 pm.

Figure 6 – The frame rails need to fit into here.

Channel is 0.750”

wide

Jason Lisenbey

7

I’m logging all of my working hours into Access so I can keep

track of how much time each project takes me.

I also borrowed a jig to hold the frame in the mill from Adam.

I used the jig, but I don’t think it is needed much. You proba-

bly would have to really crank down on the mill vise to crush

the magazine well. I’m sure people do it, but I don’t think I

will.

Project Limited 10

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Okay, I went to the mill and re-

moved .007 from each frame rail to get .752 on the

front of the rail and .7515 on the rear of the rail. Now

the slide is too loose. What happened to the .750 slot

that I measured? Lesson learned: measuring the slot

with cheap calipers is not a good ideal. Get a better

way to measure that. It’s still a nice fit, just not the

perfection I was looking for. I think once everything

gets fitted, the slight noticeable wiggle may disappear.

Before I cut the slide for the barrel rib, I’m going to

study the problem a little more.

In the meantime, the slide won’t go back all the way

before it sticks. It’s the bottom surface of the slide.

I’m going to fix that today.

It didn’t take long. About 20 minutes with Dykem and

sandpaper wrapped around a flat stone. The slide

goes all the way back without sticking.

Aug 25, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

9

Today I cut the slot in the slide for

the barrel rib. I followed the Schuemann directions to a

tee.

First, measure

the distance

from the front of

the slide to the

aft surface of the

aft slide locking

lug (see figure

8). I had to use

the surface plate

and a height

gage to get this

measurement. The results with my calipers were incon-

sistent. The measurement is 3.5575”.

Next, measure the distance from the back of the barrel

rib to the aft edge of the aft locking groove (see figure

9). Subtract the second measurement from the first.

I got 0.860” for the second measurement. I had to use

calipers, so I measured about a hundred times and took

the number that came up the most. Subtract this num-

ber from the first one and you get 2.698”. That is how

long you cut the slot. I dyed the slide and made that

mark on top with the height gage.

Aug 26, 2014

Figure 7 - the barrel fit just after milling the slot

Figure 8 - Measure from the front of the slide to here. Do not measure all the way to the ejection port.

This measure-

ment was

3.5575”

Project Limited 10

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I used a stubby 7/16” carbide end mill I got from Shars.

I ran the speed at 1100 with a depth of cut .020”. Feed

was pretty quick with the hand wheel. I set the DRO to

zero when I reached the end of my first cut so I can stop

at the same place every time.

Now that the barrel sort of goes in. I’m going to start

hand fitting.

I believe the bottom of the cut in the slide will have to be

filleted because the mating surface on the slide is fillet-

ed. (see figure 10)

I worked on the slot for a couple hours with a file and

sandpaper. I finished it with some lapping compound.

It’s good enough now to start working on the hood. I

don’t have a lug fitting jig, so I’ll have to buy one or

borrow it.

Figure 9 - measure between these two points

Figure 10 - the barrel is filleted here

Jason Lisenbey

11

This is as far as the barrel will go

now (see figure 11). The hood is too wide. I will have

to fit the hood length and width; at the same time ensure

the barrel feet are straight by using a fixture; at the

same time keeping an eye on the barrel rib and ensur-

ing it has not reached its limit of travel. I’m going to do

all of this by hand. I don’t believe I will have to remove

much metal, and it’s easy to do

with a file.

It’s 3 o’clock and it is still not

fitted. Close, but the barrel is

only springing into position, not

snapping in. Until tomorrow...

Aug 26, 2014

Figure 11 - Time to fit the barrel hood.

The hood

is too

wide.

Project Limited 10

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Yesterday was a little bit frustrat-

ing for me. I stopped working

around 2:30 pm, with around 5 hours of barrel fitting.

I’m afraid I may have taken to much metal off of the

hood and breech. I didn’t realize why the barrel wasn’t

going into lockup until right when I decided to stop for

the day.

The bull barrel has a nice fit at the front of the slide be-

cause of the lapping that I did the other day. What I did-

n’t realize is that the nice muzzle fit will keep the barrel

from moving upward into lockup. I kept removing mate-

rial. I do still have light contact where the slide breech

contacts the barrel to move it forward.

I noticed this when I realized that when the barrel is all

the way back to the breech, I could spring it up into the

locking lugs by pushing up on the barrel feet.

Today I am going to work on fitting the barrel to the

slide. I know the slide is the least expensive part by

about $100, but I have put a lot of work into the slot for

the hybrid barrel. Also, I don’t really like the barrel now

because I may have ruined the fit of the barrel hood.

We’ll see how it works out today.

10:13 am – I just rounded off the sharp corners on the

slide at the bottom the barrel hole at the muzzle.

It made about 5 thou difference in lockup and I got rid of

the sharp corners (who needs them). I have 17 thou

lock up.

11:50 am – I’m up to 32 thou. I beginning to work on

the barrel top lugs. The Schuemann instructions say to

get at least .045 lockup. The lugs are only .042 deep.

I’m beginning to again get contact on the left side of the

hybrid slot.

Aug 28, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

13

1:20 pm – I stalled at .033 thou. It turns out the rear lug

slot in the barrel is only 35 thou deep. I have to file it

out. Frustrating.

Note: need aggressive needle files less than .150 wide,

with at least one safe side.

2:40 pm – Achieved .048 lockup with no spring in the

barrel. I had to take a little more off of the muzzle end

to get out more barrel spring.

Done for the day.

Figure 12 - Removing metal from the muzzle end of the barrel. The extra metal is preventing barrel lockup.

Project Limited 10

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After the barrel locks up, there

is .014”

forward/aft wiggle room. I’ve spent all day thinking

about it and talked to everyone that knows anything

about 1911s. I’ve decided to continue with the build. I

don’t think it will cause a problem.

The reason this problem exists is because I removed

metal from the breech end of the barrel. I didn’t know

what I was doing.

No progress today. I can’t fit the barrel any more until

more parts come in. I can only do cuts on the slide.

I really need to study the rear sight dimensions before

cutting. I have a Dawson adjustable rear for a Novak

cut. My slide has no rear cut at all. I’m thinking that the

slide needs to be flat-topped before deciding how deep

to make the dovetail. The rear portion needs to be

about .125 above the bottom of the dovetail.

Sept 2, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

15

Since I’m waiting on parts that

won’t be here for a week, I’m going to try to design a

fixture for milling the slide. The idea is a variation of the

Yavapai slide fixture. I want something that will hold a

barrel in place so I can flat-top the barrel rib along with

the slide, at the same time.

The fixture was designed in SolidWorks. Took a few

hours.

Sept 3, 2014

Figure 13 - the Yavapai slide fixture

Project Limited 10

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Today I’m just catching up on data

entry for the Access database. I went this morning to

Prescott Steel to pick up material to make the slide fix-

ture designed yesterday, and some extra to practice

slide serrations with. I’ll going to do some math to figure

out measurements to cut slide serrations with a ball end

mill. Also, I need to study for a test in CNC class. That

will be all for today. I’m going to add an hour of re-

search time to the Limited 10 project for doing the math.

The cuts I will make on the 1” square CR stock for prac-

tice are on the facing page.

I think I am going to like 90° cuts on the rear serrations,

and 75° cuts for the front (decorative) serrations.

Sept 4, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

17

Sec-tion

End Mill Depth of Cut

Width of Cut

Spacing between ℄

1 ¼” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.045” 0.192” 0.200”

2 ¼” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.040” 0.183” 0.190”

3 ¼” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.035” 0.173” 0.180”

4 ¼” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.030” 0.162” 0.170”

5 ¼” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.025” 0.150” 0.150”

6 3/8” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.045” 0.244” 0.250”

7 3/8” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.040” 0.232” 0.240”

8 3/8” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.035” 0.218” 0.230”

9 3/8” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.030” 0.203” 0.200”

10 3/8” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.025” 0.187” 0.200”

11 ¼” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.075” 0.229”

0.500”, 0.750”,

1.0”

12 3/8” Ball, 4FL,

Carbide 0.075” 0.300”

0.500”, 0.750”,

1.0”

Project Limited 10

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I’m writing this entry on Tuesday

the 9th. I spent all day on a mill

making the fixture to hold in the slide. I think I had a 24

hour bug or something because I was sweating like cra-

zy and really tired. I’m still worn out today.

My skills on the mill are rusty. It was supposed to

be .910 tall and I made it .904. Doesn’t matter. The

biggest problem was trying to cut a slot with a ball end

mill. I was trying to nibble at the slot .010 at a time and

the cutter would walk at a diagonal, moving the table

position and losing my center location. I gave up and

cut a square slot. In hindsight and after talking to Alan, I

should have gone to around a .180 depth to make the

cut. At .010 depth, the tip of the cutter was walking like

a drill point. I’ve always been wary about taking deep

cuts like that. I suppose I should practice them.

Because the cutter was walking, the slot ended up be-

ing wider than I wanted. After cleaning it up with the

square end mill, it is .440 instead of .380. When I use

the screws to secure the barrel, I can’t be sure the bar-

rel is perfectly straight. If the barrel bottom lugs are

canted and I flat-top the slide, the barrel rib will be cant-

ed after I assemble the gun. I need to re-make the

fixture.

Sept 8, 2014

Figure 14 - This is the fixture I made. It holds the barrel in the locked (up) position so the barrel rib can be flat-topped along with the slide.

Jason Lisenbey

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The next one will be out of aluminum. I did the first one

out of steel because I thought it would need the

strength. Now that I have made one, I don’t think that

strength is necessary. Also, I’m going to order a better

end mill for the slot. Another change is the overall width

will be .900 for a better grip on the slide.

All of this took around 6 hours of

mill time. A huge chunk of it was

nibbling at the steel. Aluminum

should be faster.

Figure 15 - The rear of the barrel holder fixture. The slot for the barrel feet ended up being too wide.

Project Limited 10

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All I have done today is reconsider

the barrel holder fixture. I’m going to re-do it in alumi-

num like mentioned above. Also, I will attach a remova-

ble ½” plate to the bottom for putting the slide on its side

in the mill vise. This way I can flat top the slide by side

milling, and use annular cutters to put in whatever kind

of serrations. I need to make changes to the 3D render-

ing.

I also ordered the aluminum and some end mills from

Enco. The database was updated.

I am thinking the problem with adding a plate to the fix-

ture will be the screws will support all of the force from

the cutting operation. They may do that with no prob-

lem, but I’m worried about the fixture moving a tiny bit

will cutting serrations. That will make some messed up

lines. I believe a way to fix this is to mill a slot in the fix-

ture for the plate to go into. Say, if the fixture is 6”, and

the plate is ½”, mill the slot ½” x 5”. The tabs on the

end will help absorb the lateral force from cutting. An-

other way is to have a ½” or ¾” tab on one side and the

other end open. This will work if the slide is cut in only

one direction (at least the heavy cuts).

Tomorrow I need to get back on the mill and practice

the serrations. I wonder if taking light cuts are going to

be a problem like it was cutting the slot in the fixture. I

think the full depth of the cuts need to be taken at once.

Since the bottom of the fixture is only about 0.300 thick

under the slot, a much smaller tab will be have to cut,

perhaps 0.150. It should still work fine.

Sept 9, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

21

So far, I’m only finding the radius cutters like I want at

Harvey Tool. This is for serrating the top of the slide,

1/32” radius. About $110.

They also have these runner cutters. They might work

better for cutting the slide serrations. Maybe the serra-

tions can be cut vertically instead of side milling.

Maybe even use an engraving cutter.

Project Limited 10

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Got some parts in from Brownells. The Wilson slide stop #965-102-138 measures 0.199, and the hole for it in the frame measures 0.202 for a .003 difference. I’m not sure if I like that. I’ll consider getting an oversized slide stop and ream out the hole on the frame. If I go that route, I’ll have to order in the slide stop, then measure it so I can order the correct reamer. The big hole in the barrel link will also have to be reamed. The only part at Brownells for this approach is the EGW #296-000-162 that is $42, $14 more than the Wilson stop. I can return the Wilson one for a $28 credit, but I’ll probably keep it for “in case.” The Wilson reverse plug #965-000-175 (Figure 17) will need to be fitted to the STI slide. If it did not have the extra material to fill the gap between the plug and the barrel, it would have dropped in. I have to be careful when fitting so I don’t change the barrel/slide fit. The hole in the front for the guide rod measures 0.353” with a gage pin.

The STI full length guide rod #791-110-001 seems stur-dy and I like that it has a hole for capturing the recoil spring. It measures 0.322” for a slightly loose fit in the Wilson reverse plug. I have a stainless Kimber guide rod out of a TLE/RL II that measures 0.327” and it fits better. It doesn’t have the hole, though.

The STI trigger #791-000-065 fits nicely in the STI frame. I like this part combination. I used the trigger stone #080-721-230 to clean up the trigger channel in the frame. It is a very fine grit and cuts slowly. I’m ok with that as you are generally just cleaning this area up instead of fitting. The stone is sturdy and holds together better than a Norton style stone.

The Caspian ejector #168-000-014 drops right into the STI frame easily. A slight tap will seat it fully. It will have to be drilled for the retaining pin, as it should be.

Sept 10, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

23

No foreseen issues.

The Wilson barrel link kit #965-142-000 has 5 links, siz-es 1 – 5. I probably will only need #3. The links fit into the barrel easily. The holes for the link pin measure 0.155 – 0.157”. The link pin #965-011-051 measures 0.155”. The hole in the barrel bottom lugs for the link pin measures 0.151”. I need to get a reamer to fit these. I want the hole to be 0.155” for a nice press fit. Enco has an Interstate reamer #319-0747 for $14. The holes for the slide stop measure 0.201 – 0.204”. I will probably only need the #3 link, but this assortment co-vers the gamut of sizes. The left overs will be good to have lying in the tool box.

The STI plunger tube #791-000-084 drops right into the STI frame. It looks to me like the frame holes need more bevel/countersink for the staking tool to spread out the pins. I think if I leave it like it is, the tube will shortly become loose. I can reach into the frame with a Dremel and a round burr to do this (See figure 16). Kevin says I need to install the plunger tube before the ejector, or the ejector will get in the way of the tube staking tool.

I need a small lockable tool box just for 1911 stuff.

Concerning Ed Brown rebuild kit #087-814-000. I bought this just to avoid ordering a bunch of separate pins and springs. I know I won’t use some of the small parts, but they make nice spares. I did not get the spring for the plunger assembly. Instead, I got two magazine catch springs. The MS housing pin fits nicely into the STI frame. The hammer pin measures 0.156”

Figure 16 - Instructions for the plunger tube staking tool #634-000-001

Project Limited 10

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and the hole in the frame is 0.154”. The sear pin measures 0.109” and the hole in the frame is 0.107”. I already have 0.157” and 0.110” reamers for these. The pins in the kit are not oversized, but the frame holes un-dersized (a good thing). This came with a link pin, so I didn’t need to get the one above.

The hole in the frame for the safety is 0.157”.

The barrel holder #080-711-100 holds the barrel in the locked position tightly (according to my fingers). I think it will work ok for lug cutting. I seems easy to knock loose, so I wouldn’t trust it to replace the slide fixture I’ve been working on. There’s no way it holds up to a milling machine. The slide still fits on the frame with the holder in position.

The lug cutter #080-000-063 seems awesomely made. We’ll see if it’s worth the $50. The lug cutter handle #080-000-058 also comes with a pilot bushing to hold the other side of the cutter straight in the hole. Overall totally happy with the lug cutting parts. The other two pieces to the kit (which I didn’t get) are a waste.

According to the Brownells instructions, I need to have

the thumb safety before fitting the lugs. You cut the

lugs until the safety goes into the notch in the slide. I

suppose I can use an old safety, but I prefer to use the

one that will go on the gun.

I’m saving all of the little Ziploc bags that the parts came

in. They’ll be handy later for small parts.

I’m going to go ahead and order the slide stop #296-000-162, and the safety #965-600-106 (oversize pin). When I get them I’ll measure the pins to order reamers. I’ll order from home as I don’t trust the internet right now here at school.

Jason Lisenbey

25

Yesterday I made a Brownells

order. I got an EGW slide stop

#296-000-162, with a 0.203 pin. When it comes in I’ll

order a reamer to fit it to the frame. I got a STI grip

safety #791-107-100 because it was cheap, and Wilson

safety #965-600-106 because I like a wide safety and it

was cheaper. The thumb safety is supposed to have a

0.002 oversized pin, if that’s true I’ll have to get a ream-

er for that, too.

Today I’m going to

fit the reverse plug

to the slide. The

flange on the plug

measures 0.375,

with a radius joining

it to the main part.

The opening for the

flange in the slide is

0.372. I’m going to

go slowly with

sandpaper. I may lightly use a file to cut the radius out

of the corners (figure 18). I want it to look nice when

viewed from the muzzle end. On second thought, I sort

of removed those corners from the slide on the muzzle

end while fitting the barrel. I guess the right approach is

to get it to fit into the slide. It’s 10 a.m.

I tried to use the belt sander

in the shop. Bad idea, it cuts

too fast with little control. Oh

well, the hard way it is.

While avoiding damage to

the wide part (rear) of the

plug, it is easy to put a sharp

taper on the flange (don’t).

Sept 11, 2014

Figure 17 - Tools to fit the reverse plug. I ended up just using the orange square stone with sand-paper wrapped around it.

Figure 18 - The Wilson reverse plug

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11 a.m. and I got the plug to go all the way in. I spent

about 30 minutes on that part. Now I need to fit the bar-

rel to it. Okay, the barrel already fit a little snug and I

like it. I wonder if that is normal. I’m going to say that

this took about an hour. I polished the end of the plug

with sandpaper flattened on the shop surface plate.

I’m not really happy with the

finished product (Figure 19).

There is too many gaps. The

corners of the slide under the

barrel were rounded off too

much when fitting. I also don’t

like the gaps where the plug

flange meets the rounded part.

The slide is going to be blued

with the barrel and plug pol-

ished stainless. That should

hide the gaps somewhat.

I may like the

looks of the stain-

less Kimber guide

rod better, but not

the function. I

suppose I could

drill a hole in it

easy enough.

That is something

to decide when

final fitting.

Note: The guide

rod, recoil spring, and plug will have to go into the slide

as one unit, after the barrel goes in.

Figure 20 - The fitted reverse plug

Figure 19 - A nicely fitted reverse plug. It is slightly proud of the slide. That may minimize mistakes in fitting.

Jason Lisenbey

27

I think in the future, if I’m doing a

hybrid-type barrel and I want to

flat-top it, I should keep the top barrel rib really tight in

the slot in the barrel, then fit it after it is flat topped.

Now that I have fitted the rib to the slot, I’m afraid if I flat

-top it the gap between the barrel rib and slide with be

larger than it is now and become unsightly. At this

point, I think the best approach is to keep the slide the

original profile. I’ll order another barrel and slide to flat

top for the next project. That may be a good one to do

an Open gun project. I’m undecided.

I went to the mill this morning to do some experimental

slide serrations on 1018 steel. Making a groove with a

ball end mill just sucks. It’s hard to get it working right.

I was able to make cuts around .035 deep with a ¼” ball

end mill at 2600 rpm, feeding as fast as I could spin the

wheel. I could feel the machine wanting to move the

table.

I talked to George and he pointed out the obvious. I

should be making a plunge cut from the top of the slide

(in this case a practice bar), and using the side of the

cutter to make the groove vertically. I did some cuts like

that and it worked much better.

For the front serrations, I like them to be angled 15° (top

forward of the bottom), and cut with a ¼” end mill 0.075

deep, and the center of the cuts ¾” apart.

For the rear serrations, I like them at a 90° angle and

cut with a ¼” end mill 0.40 deep, and the center of the

cuts 0.185 apart.

It took around 2 hours at the mill to figure this out.

As for the top of the slide, since I’m not going to flat-top

Sept 15, 2014

Project Limited 10

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it, I think it will look good bead blasted on the top radius

with the sides polished (the slide blued). I think maybe

the front surface of the slide should be matte also to

conceal the gap between slide and reverse plug.

Since I’m not flat-topping the slide, I can cut the sights

now. I might as well wait until I get the front sight in and

do them at the same time.

Another option is to flat-top, but don’t go down all the

way past the barrel ribs. This way the side gap won’t

get wider. I think I like this idea best, but it’s best to

sleep on it. I keep changing my mind. I need to get the

new barrel holder fixture made ASAP.

Jason Lisenbey

29

Last night I received the parts I

talked about on Sept. 11.

The EGW Slide

Stop #296-000-

162 is supposed

to measure

0.203 and it ac-

cording to the

micrometer, it is

exactly that. I

need to order a

0.204 reamer for

the frame hole

and link. This is

a milled part and

the difference between the fit and finish of the Wilson

stop I bought earlier is incredible. A much better part.

I’m comparing it to the cheap Wilson stuff. I’m sure their

expensive “bullet proof” stuff is nice.

The Wilson thumb safety 965-600-106 is supposed to

have a 0.002 oversized pin (according to Brownells

specs), but it drops right into the STI frame. The pin is a

rough finish, and the unseen parts are rough, like from a

casting. The exterior surfaces are polished more than

others I’ve seen. The pin measures 0.1535 at the base,

0.1514 at the end, and 0.1506 in the middle. Not im-

pressive at all. The hole in the frame measures 0.157”.

The working part of the safety will have to be fitted to

clear the hole in the frame, as it should be. The flat part

of the safety that fits flat against the outside of the frame

doesn’t fit flush there. There is a gap at the top where

the thumb lever is and it drags on the bottom. I guess

it’s not a big deal, but my impression is this is a poor

quality safety. I’m sure it will work just fine.

Sept 16, 2014

Figure 21 - Wilson slide stop (cast) on top, the EGW slide stop (milled) on bottom.

Project Limited 10

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The STI grip safety 791-107-100 fits cleanly into the

frame after lightly knocking off the edges. The hole for

the safety pin measures 0.156”. It has a matte finish

identical to the STI frame. I’ll have to do a lot of polish-

ing here. Besides the extra polishing work, very little

blending with the frame is needed as it is almost perfect.

I think this is the benefit of using STI parts on the STI

frame.

I need to go ahead and order the reamer (0.204) for the

slide stop. I need the slide stop fitted before I can cut in

the barrel feet. I already have the sear pin reamer

(0.110) and the hammer pin reamer (0.156).

The difference between ordering cheap 1911 parts and

the more expensive ones is obvious here. It’s a good

idea to have examples of the parts in stock so the cus-

tomers can see the difference for themselves (even if

you are selling a complete gun).

I think a wire wheel finish on the stainless parts may

look good. That way the polishing doesn’t have to be

perfect on the odd-shaped parts (which is impossible).

I want to do a 45 degree chamfer on the bottom slide

surface.

Two examples I like are on the next page.

Jason Lisenbey

31

Figure 23 - A traditional style chamfer at the bottom of the slide. Notice the fluted barrel.

Figure 22 - A much larger chamfer at the bottom of the slide. On this one it is even more important to ensure the angle and length of cut matches both sides. (I think) I also like the flattened slide stop pin.

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This morning I installed the plunger tube. Very easy.

The first thing I did was bevel the inside holes for the

plunger tube staking posts. This allows the posts to ex-

pand more when staked, holding more securely (See

figure 16). I used the Gun Runners fixture 634-000-001

for staking and a Dremel bur for beveling the holes.

The beavertail needs just a little bit of blending on the

bottom (see figure 24), and a little more on the top side.

I’ll blend the bottom while the safety is in the depressed

(disengaged) and the top will be blended while in the

out (engaged) position.

For the underside I used a Dremel and stone to remove

most of the metal. The cheap Harbor Freight rotary tool

accessories are junk. None are concentric. I had to do

a lot of sanding to get out the stone marks. Also, I

moved the thumb safety into the down position and re-

moved a little bit of metal that hung down past the

frame.

Sept 17, 2014

Figure 25 - The STI beavertail in the STI frame requires very little blending. The thumb safety hangs over slightly and needs trimming.

Jason Lisenbey

33

I will blend in the top part later. I need to figure out a

way to keep the safety in the out (engaged) position.

Figure 24 - The blended beavertail and thumb safety. More polishing is needed of course.

Project Limited 10

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Today, I re-made the barrel hold-

er fixture. It’s much better this

time out of aluminum. I’m still having trouble getting the

slot for the barrel feet just right, but it’s not bad. The

slot needs to be wide enough to get the barrel through

easily, but any extra space allows the hybrid-type barrel

to tilt slightly when tightened down. This will make the

barrel rib and the slide slightly uneven after flat-topping.

I think the best solution is to use shim stock to wedge

the barrel rib into the center of the slot in the slide. You

can mill off the extra shim when you flat-top the slide

and barrel.

It took around six hours in the shop to mill the first part

of the fixture. There is a second part to be done later. I

made some changes to the print on the fly, and I need

to input the changes into the CAD program.

Note: Stop buying cheap tooling. I bought a 1” 2-flute

end mill and 1” end mill holder from Shar’s. The end

mill flutes were uneven and made a crappy cut. The

holder wouldn’t stay tight in the mill. The end mill fell

out of the mill and hit the floor while it was spinning at

1000 rpm.

Sept 18, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

35

I got in the new Hybrid barrel in

from Schuemann this past Satur-

day. Several hundred dollars down the drain on a wast-

ed barrel. At least I learned something from it. This

new barrel is chambered for .40 S&W, instead of .400

caliber. Also, it has the AET rifling instead of 1:24.

On Monday I started fitting the new barrel and finished it

today on Tuesday. The bottom lugs are fitted to the Wil-

son .199 slide stop. It seems to be a good fit, so I will

have to decide if I’ll use the EGW oversized slide stop.

A note about the Brownells lug cutter. Be darn sure you

are not climb milling the bottom lugs. The cutter will just

grab on to the lugs and crank the barrel forward on the

slide. The instructions tell you how to insert the cutter,

but it is easy to misunderstand. I took the barrel back

out, filed down the teeth marks, then put the cutter in

the other way. I had just enough metal left to even the

lugs out because of the use of t he file. Everything will

be OK here.

The fit of the new barrel hood is much more precise.

Sept 22, 2014

Figure 26 - The barrel sanded to 400 grit on the diagonal.

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There is about .003 - .004 gap between breech and

hood. It looks good and even. The top lug engagement

is .045 - .050. This is hard to get consistent measure-

ments on, but I didn’t get a measurement less

than .045, which is Schuemann’s recommended mini-

mum.

For now, I have the file marks in the barrel sanded out

with 220 grit on a diagonal. The part of the barrel ex-

posed in the ejection port, I sanded to 400 grit on the

diagonal. I looks ok for now. The barrel seemed awful-

ly easy to sand.

I reamed out the hole in the barrel bottom lugs to .156.

It came with the hole for the link pin sized at .152. The

pin I’m using is .1555, and I have to lightly tap it home

with a hammer. The link did not want to rotate freely at

first, and I was afraid that I reamed the hole poorly

somehow. I think it may have been burrs, as the link

moved much easier later on.

I assembled the frame, slide, barrel, link, and slide stop;

then checked the operation. The assembly seemed to

operate just ok. The barrel wasn’t quite a slick up and

down during lock-up, but it may just be the sticky link pin

issue. I’m not going to worry about it yet. It may not be

a problem later.

Crowning the barrel should be an easy project to do to-

morrow. At least I have a spare barrel to practice on

first. I need to hold off on blending the top of the bea-

vertail until I am sure the barrel feet are fitted correctly,

as that will change the slide alignment.

Jason Lisenbey

37

Today, I crowned the barrel.

The barrel is a bull barrel. About an inch or so back

from the muzzle, the barrel tapers down to a slimmer

size. This means you must be sure to put the front sec-

tion in the lathe chuck so it can be gripped securely.

The barrel has this flange on the top. This means that

you will have to use a 4-jaw chuck on the lathe and indi-

cate it to center.

I wrapped a bookmark around the barrel to prevent it

from getting marred by the chuck jaws.

I indicated in the barrel to center on the rifling inside the

barrel. This was somewhat of a challenge at first be-

cause of the indicator needle bouncing around on the

dial. I adjusted the tip so that it was contacting the

lands, but not the grooves. This helped with the bounc-

ing. Also, I discovered that when I moved the chuck by

Sept 24, 2014

Figure 27 - The barrel after crowning. This photo was taken later in the build.

Project Limited 10

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hand back and forth to read the indicator, it was easier

to read when done quickly. This may be something

unique to me.

I practiced the crown with the 1st barrel, the one I decid-

ed not to use. On this one, I did the crown like I would

on a rifle. I cut out the rifling a little bit at the muzzle.

This didn’t look right and decided to not do this on the

actual barrel. The angle is about 25 degrees and looks

right.

You can see in the photo some scratches on the rifling

inside the muzzle. I think this may have been cause by

sandpaper when polishing. I didn’t get a tool inside the

barrel like that. This looks bad and should be avoided

on future barrel crowns.

Jason Lisenbey

39

Today I made the third version of

the slide/barrel alignment fixture.

This is the best one yet. It was cut from a 2” x 2” alumi-

num bar and it is L-shaped so the flat top operation can

be done by side milling. I used the Mitutoyo DRO on a

Bridgeport mill and I was able to hit my numbers. The

channel for the barrel feet is much better. Took 5 or 6

hours.

Oct 13, 2014

Figure 28 - The L-shaped version of the barrel/slide align-ment fixture

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Last night I received the parts from

Brownell’s order #10538114. I got

Nowlin grip screws and grip screw bushings in stainless.

I’ve used them before and they work well. They didn’t

send me the Wilson oversize magazine release and in-

stead sent a guide rod, so more to come there. I got a

hammer strut because the fire control parts I’ll order

from Dawson doesn’t have one. I got a blue Caspian

extractor 168-000-018. It needed to be tightened a little

for tension. Also, the slot in the extractor wasn’t big

enough for the firing pin stop after it was fitted. I had to

open up the slot with a pin file. The firing pin stop from

STI, 791-112-001, was not a drop in fit for the STI slide,

but was easily fitted with a bench stone. The firing pin

from Caspian is a 9mm size and worked well.

I also got a Wolff variable power spring pack for 1911s.

It contains different weight recoil springs. I’ll try the dif-

ferent springs to see which works best. The Dawson

light speed fire control parts has a reduced power main

spring and a light weight hammer. I’m thinking those

two offset

and I’ll need

a lighter re-

coil spring

because of

the slot cut in

the slide. I

guess we’ll

see.

Oct 15, 2014

Figure 29 - The back of the slide and frame before blend-ing the beavertail safety.

Jason Lisenbey

41

This morning I will blend the top of

the grip safety to the frame and

slide. Yesterday I fitted the extractor, so it can be

blended in also. The ejector has been installed, so it

can be part of the blending.

I have noticed that the right side pin hole for the grip

safety needs to be chamfered. Maybe the sear and

hammer pins will have to be done the same way to

match.

I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to do the blending.

At first, I used a rough grit drum, probably 80-120. I

then switched to a 220 sanding drum. After that, I sort

of played around by wrapping sandpaper around the

rubber sanding arbor. I used 220 then 400 grit to get

what you see in Figure 29. What doesn’t show in the

photo is the waviness left by the Dremel rotation. I may

have to polish by hand to get rid of the waviness. This

is as far as I will go for now. I takes 30 minutes at the

most.

As you can

see in Figure

29, there is a

gap in the

back above

the ejector. I

think on future

builds, it

would look

better to have

a taller ejector

that has to be

fitted.

Oct 16, 2014

Figure 30 - After blending the beavertail safety.

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Today I flat-topped the slide and

installed the rear sight.

Flat-Top

I tightened the slide into the fixture that I made last

week. I turned it in the mill vise so the top of the slide

can be side milled. When I indicated in the slide to be

parallel to the table, I found out that the top of the slide

is not parallel to the rails. It is tapered downward so

that the front sight is lower on the frame than the rear

sight. This is normal for all 1911s.

I wanted the flat part of the slide to be a uniform width

front to back. So I moved the vise, with the fixture and

slide in it, and indicated it parallel. I had to cut

around .065 off the top of the slide before the flat was

wide enough. I wanted the flat to be just wider than the

gap for the barrel flange. This of course means that the

top of the slide is still tapered the way it was intended.

I want to use a ball end mill on either side of the flat for

Oct 20, 2014

Figure 31 - The slide after being flat-topped using the fixture I made.

Jason Lisenbey

43

a nice look. Since the top of the slide is tapered, there

are two approaches that I can think of to get accurate

cuts.

First, orient the slide in the fixture the same way as be-

fore so that it can be side milled. Indicate everything

parallel. Figure out the depth (Z axis), lock it down and

make all the cuts by feeding along the X and using Y for

depth of cut.

Second, orient the slide and fixture vertical. There will

have to be some shimming done to get the flat top to

indicate level. If it is not level, the cuts will vary in width

from front to back. Maybe I can just stick it in the vise

off the bottom and tap it back and forth until it is level.

Again figure out the Z depth and make the cuts coming

in sideways.

If I do it the first way, I’ll have to modify the fixture so the

slide can be installed from front and back. That proba-

bly needs to be done anyway.

Figure 32 - The slide and barrel after flat-topping and crowning.

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Rear Sight

The sight I installed is a Dawson precision, Novak-style,

adjustable sight, part number 024-022. It is designed to

install exactly like a Novak Lo-Mount sight. I couldn’t

find any instructions to install this in a slide that doesn’t

have any sight cuts. The instructions that came with the

sight were for removing a sight and installing the new

one. I went to Novak’s website, and their instructions

are for milling the slide after removing a G.I. style sight.

(See figure 32)

I decided to mill a flat

from the back of the slide

0.100 deep, and 0.770

from the back. This is to

make up for the original

G.I. dovetail cut as

shown in Novak’s in-

structions. I zeroed the

X on the DRO and the

0.770 mark. I put Dykem

over the milled area.

Next, with a ¼” carbide

end mill, on the X zero, I

milled down until I

scratched off the Dykem

at the 0.100 deep cut. This moved the 0.770 mark back

0.125 because of the cutter width. After scratching the

Dykem, I set the knee dial to zero. Without moving the

X, I cut down another 0.120 for a total of 0.220 deep.

This removes most of the material for the dovetail cut-

ter.

I installed the dovetail cutter and zeroed the depth at the

original 0.100 deep cut. I used that surface because it

Figure 33 - Novak's instructions for installing the Lo-Mount style sight.

Jason Lisenbey

45

is flat and easy to see what I was doing. Take the cutter

back off the slide and move the X to the zero previously

established on the DRO. Now you can move the table

up so the cutter is 0.125 deep. Cut through the slot

made with the ¼” end mill. The dovetail cutter I was us-

ing is 0.330 x 65 degrees. The dovetail on the sight is

0.495. So, once I was through, I needed to cut 0.0825

more on either side. This is easy to do with the use of

the DRO. I had to make the slot about 0.497 to get the

sight in.

The above steps are what I did. That doesn’t mean it

was the right way to do it.

The adjustable sight does not sit parallel in the back, so

I am left with an unsightly gap underneath the body of

the sight. The dovetail fit is nice. I wish the sight was

about 0.040 more to the rear.

The sight has two set screws going through the dovetail

to lock the sight in place. I think I will Dykem the bottom

of the cut, get a mark from those screws, and mill small

divots for the screws to fit into. This way no glue is

needed and the screws hold the sight in place.

Figure 34 - Rear sight after installation.

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It’s not likely that I will be able to

get into the shop today, so I will

talk about the sight I installed yesterday.

The sight comes with an aluminum drift punch and a

hex wrench. The wrench is for turning the tiny set

screws that go through the bottom of the dovetail. With

that in mind, I put blue dye on the sight cut, pushed the

sight in, and torqued down the set screws. This left a

mark from the screws that is visible after removing the

sight.

I’ll use a 1/8” square end mill to cut out those marks and

make a recess for the screws to go into. This will help

to keep the sight stable without using an adhesive.

I’ll have to do it another day.

Oct 21, 2014

Figure 35 - Marks from the set screws that lock the rear sight into place. Recesses will be cut with a 1/8" square end mill.

Jason Lisenbey

47

Magazine Release

Number 965-405-101. It does not fit cleanly into the STI

frame. Also, it does not come with the spring and

plunger that goes inside the mag release.

Initially, the mag release wouldn’t go cleanly into the

frame. This is because there was some crud built up in

the recess for the mag catch plunger tab. I had to

scrape and blow it out several times before it fit cleanly.

The next problem showed up after installation. Once

the plunger was released and you got spring tension on

the release, the whole thing bound up and wouldn’t

move. I was pulling my hair out until I installed it without

the spring. It turns out that the tab on the plunger was a

tiny bit too long. I took it to the Cratex wheel with some

vise grips and buffed it a couple of times. The mag

catch fits great now.

Math for the Slide Serrations

For the rear slide serrations, I will use a 3/8” square end

mill and plunge cut to make radius serrations. Each cut

will be 0.030” deep to make a 0.203” wide cut. They will

be spaced 0.205” apart (center to center). The first cut

Oct 23, 2014

Figure 36 - This tab was a bit too long, causing the mag catch to bind up.

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will be 1” from

the back of the

slide fixture

(center of cut).

A total of six

cuts will be

made. This

makes the

edge of the

cuts about

0.900” from the

back of the fix-

ture, to about

2.130”. This is enough to clear the safety notch.

Set the DRO for the X zero so these measurements can

be repeated for the other side. An edge finder will have

to be used to set the depth of cut (Y axis). Also, don’t

forget to indicate to ensure the slide is parallel.

The front serrations will be cut at a 20 degree angle,

closely matching the angle of the grip. I think the angle

of the grip is actually 17 degrees, but 20 looked pretty

good on the mock-up. They will be cut with a ¼” square

end mill

plunged to

make radius

serrations. I

think ¾” cen-

ter of cuts

look good. I

will be cutting

0.075” deep,

but this can

only be done

from the front

Figure 37 - The serrations will begin1" from the back of the fixture (center of cut), making the edge of the cut about 0.900" from the back of the fixture.

Figure 38 - Edge find this corner to get the X axis ze-roed.

Jason Lisenbey

49

end of the slide and 1.5” back from there. Any farther

back and the rail cuts will be exposed.

Using the mock up, the 20 degree angle leaves only

1.2” between centers front and back. This will have to

be reduce more to avoid cutting off the corners. After

doing the math, I’ve decided this:

1. Edge find at the corner of the slide, and edge find the

Y depth.

2. Go in 0.575”, set X zero, and make the first plunge

cut.

3. Move in 0.675” and make the second plunge cut (two

cuts per side)

4. Edge find the Y on the other side of the slide, and

move in 0.075” on the Y axis.

5. Mirror the cuts on the second side.

As far as setting up the vise for the angled cuts. I can

put the fixture in the vise at the correct angle (20 de-

grees), and then brace underneath it with some metal

stock. Make sure the brace is not wider than the fixture.

Top Radius Groove

There is going

to be a radius

groove on either side of the flat on top of the slide. To

make this, set the Z depth to the flat top, and bring the

Figure 39 - The top radius groove will be cut here.

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cut to the flat edge from the outside of the slide. The

cut will be 0.125” down from the flat top surface, with a

¼” ball end mill. This cut needs to terminate before it

gets to the rear sight, 6” from the front edge of the slide.

Using the math that was done today, I’ll make a plan of

action for Monday.

See the outline on the next pages. This worked well for

me and I’ll do this more in the future.

Jason Lisenbey

51

Outline for Monday

INITIAL SET UP

1. Install the slide onto the fixture. Use an aluminum rod in place of the barrel to add rigidity to the front of the slide in the fixture.

2. Put the fixture in the mill vise on parallels tall enough that when making the slide serration cuts there is enough clearance for the end mill.

3. Indicate in the flat top. It should be perpendicular to the spindle and parallel to the table. Shims underneath the fixture at the front end may be needed.

4. Indicate in the side of the slide. This ensures the top grooves will be parallel to the flat top cut.

5. Check that the top of the slide is still good.

REAR SIGHT

1. Install a 1/8” carbide end mill. Set RPM at 4800 (or maximum).

2. Eyeball the alignment of the end mill over the Dykem marks. A light touch off will ensure correct alignment.

3. Cut out the marks left in the Dykem by the set screws. Go about 0.025” deep.

4. Test fit the rear sight before changing this set up. The sight should be solidly in place when the set screws are lightly tightened.

5. Top Radius Groove

6. Edge finder to locate the muzzle end of the slide. Set this as X zero on the DRO.

7. Edge finder to locate one side of the slide. Set this as Y zero on the DRO.

8. Install a ¼” carbide ball end mill. Set RPM at 3000.

9. Using a shim, set Z zero on the knee dial to the top of the slide.

10. Move the end mill out of the way to the side of the slide previously indicated.

11. Raise the table 0.125”. No need to account for the thickness of the shim.

12. Make light cuts coming in sideways until the cut almost touches the edge of the flat-top cut. You will go 6” from the front of the slide. This will nicely terminate the cut before the rear sight.

13. When it is how you like it, write down the Y measurement that is on the DRO.

14. Edge finder the other side of the slide.

15. Make the grove on the other side of the slide, using the same Y measurement to repeat the cut.

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REAR SERRATIONS

1. Take out the shims from underneath the fixture. This will ensure the rear serra-tions are perpendicular to the bottom edge of the slide.

2. Indicate the sides of the slide in the area the serrations will go. This will ensure the cuts are a uniform depth.

3. Edge finder the edge of the fixture behind the back of the slide. Set this as X zero on the DRO.

4. Edge finder to locate one side of the slide, and set this as Y zero on the DRO. Be sure to account for the thickness of the edge finder.

5. Install a 3/8” carbide square end mill. Set the RPM at 1600.

6. The Y depth of cut right now would be 0.1875 (3/8” cutter) if we don’t move the Y axis. Move the spindle away from the slide 0.1575 to get a 0.030 depth of cut.

7. Move the slide back so the first cut will be 1” from the back of the fixture, or 1” on the DRO.

8. After making the first cut, move forward 0.205” and make the next cut. Keep this spacing and make a total of 6 cuts. The DRO should read 2.025” after the 6th cut.

9. Repeat by edge finding the other side and re-setting the Y zero and doing the math in step 6. Do not change the X zero so the cuts will be mirrored on the other side.

FRONT SERRATIONS

1. Move the fixture in the vise so the front of the slide is raised up 20 degrees. Use some metal stock to shim up the vise to hold it as rigidly as possible.

2. We are only making to cuts on each side, so indicating in the sides of the slide is probably not necessary.

3. Edge find to the front corner of the slide and set this as X zero on the DRO.

4. Edge finder one side of the slide and set this as Y zero on the DRO.

5. Install a ¼” carbide square end mill (long). Set the RPM at 2400.

6. The Y depth of cut right now would be 0.125 (1/4” cutter) if we don’t move the Y axis. Move the spindle away from the slide 0.050 to get a 0.075 depth of cut.

7. Move the slide forward so the first cut will be .575” from the front corner of the slide, or 0.575” on the DRO.

8. After making the first cut, move forward 0.675” and make the next cut, or 1.250” on the DRO.

9. Repeat by edge finding the other side and re-setting the Y zero and doing the math in step 6. Do not change the X zero so the cuts will be mirrored on the other side.

Jason Lisenbey

53

Today I made all of the slide cuts

that I had outlined above. It took

around 3.5 hours. It went pretty smoothly since I had

made the outline. I didn’t spend too much time calculat-

ing and second guessing. I’ll make my notes according

to the section in the outline.

Initial Set Up

I already had the slide installed on the fixture with the

aluminum rod in place. It took a bookmark and a piece

of sandpaper to get the top relatively level, no big deal.

When I indicated the sides of the slide to ensure they

were straight, it was obvious the slide was not milled

flat, at least it’s not flat anymore. The right side of the

slide was ok until I moved forward of the area cut out for

the barrel flange. There it was bent outward. I indicat-

ed the flat area behind this. When I checked the other

side, it was dished out in the middle. Oh well, I did the

best I could.

Rear Sight

Easy enough. I didn’t measure the depth, just eyeballed

it. I should have zeroed the Z axis and moved the table

up to measure the depth. This will ensure the cuts

aren’t accidentally made too deep (I got lucky).

Top Radius Groove

Due to the indicating problem noted above, I was wor-

ried about this cut being uneven. I was obvious when

the cut was pretty shallow, but it’s not noticeable after

going the full depth. I zeroed the cutter on the flat top

with a bookmark shim. The table was cranked up

0.125” without accounting for the shim.

Oct 27, 2014

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54

The table was

moved on the Y

axis to 0.060” past

zero toward the

center. I made

the same cut on

the other side,

again the uneven-

ness was not no-

ticeable.

Rear Serrations

I took the shims out from under the fixture and tightened

the vise. The side of the slide was still indicating OK. I

first tried to use a long 3/8” end mill due to the extra cut-

ting length. I didn’t want to worry about the top of the

cutter rubbing. The long end mill was previously used

to inlet a fiberglass stock, and it was making an ugly cut

and making a squealing noise. I switched to a standard

length end mill. The cut was nicer but the noise re-

mained. I squirted

some cutting oil,

but it didn’t seem

to help.

I made the cuts

according to the

measurements on

the outline I print-

ed out. I think it

would have looked

better if all cuts

were moved back

another 0.100”.

Figure 40 - The top groove along the flat-top was made with a 1/4" ball end mill at 3000 RPM.

Figure 41 - The rear serrations were made with a 3/8" end mill plunge cut at 1600 RPM.

Jason Lisenbey

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Front Serrations

In order to move the

fixture so the front

end is tilted up at a

20 degree angle, I

used an angle block.

I set the angle block

on top of the vise jaw

and eyeballed it us-

ing the block against

the edge of the fixture. Then I tightened the hell out of

the vise.

Because of what happened with the long end mill for the

rear serrations, I just used a standard length ¼” end mill

here and made the cuts according to the directions I

made in the outline. I think in the future I will make

these cuts only 0.060 deep. This way the cuts won’t get

into the top radius cut (see pic).

Thoughts for the Day

Overall, these cuts look really good. I’m considering a

45 cut on the bottom edge of the slide, but I’m worried it

will make the bottom of the radius cuts look weird. I

think the slide looks pretty good now anyway.

By the way, the slide hangs over the dust cover 0.078”

on the right side and 0.086” on the left side. If I do the

45 cuts, they should be no more than 0.030 deep so the

difference is not noticeable. That is as deep as the rear

serrations, so a cut as shallow as 0.010” may be more

appropriate.

Figure 42 - The front serrations were made with a 1/4" end mill at 2400 RPM. The 0.075" depth of cut was a little too much.

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Figure 43 - So far, so good.

Jason Lisenbey

57

Yesterday I ordered from Dawson

Precision a hammer, sear, discon-

nector, mainspring, and leaf spring; a front sight; and a

mag well liner. This got me thinking this morning about

how I will install the front sight.

The barrel needs to be held in the mill vise so that the

rib is level on the X & Y axes before cutting in the dove-

tail. I have considered making different fixtures, but it

seems the best approach is to use a set of V-blocks

(see Fig. 43). The top edge of the V-blocks can grip ei-

ther side of the barrel rib and let the rest hang below in-

side the cut-out.

The rib is a uniform

width the full length,

so this approach will

work well. The

school has a set of

blocks I can use.

Today, I began to

study timing a 1911

pistol. This is some-

thing I don’t really understand, and much reading is

needed. I was studying Scheumann’s instructions 5.2

and 5.3, and tried to do the rod in the barrel procedure.

This method didn’t seem to tell me anything. The other

method helped where I assemble frame, barrel, and

slide; move the barrel out of lock up and rap the front of

the barrel. This can leave marks in dyed metal parts.

You can see where the back of the standing lugs are

contacting the frame recess. The back of the lugs were

slightly dished, and a few strokes of the file improved

the surface for more even contact.

Oct 28, 2014

Figure 44 - The V-block set up for front sight installation in the barrel rib.

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Today I did some sanding on the frame. A ½” thick

piece of aluminum made a good backer for the sandpa-

per. This method made short work of the flat areas of

the frame. I only used 220 grit sandpaper. I think this is

good enough for now because I will probably sand blast

the frame and leave it matte finish. An easy way to get

an interesting look is to blast the frame, then polish

across the flats with backed sandpaper. This will give a

2-tone look.

The factory STI checkering on the front strap ran over a

little bit at the top. I was able to clean it up with a small

file. The factory milled a groove above the checkering,

but the cut wasn’t accurate and you could see the end

of the checkering lines.

Oct 29, 2014

Figure 45 - The top of the checkering on the front strap needed to be cleaned up.

Jason Lisenbey

59

I used the V-block method de-

scribed Oct. 28 to install the front

sight on the barrel.

I used a 65° x 0.330 dovetail cutter by PTG. The front

sight is a fiber optic by Dawson Precision, #020-306-00.

It is made for the Novak cut. The dovetail on the sight is

0.075 deep, and that is how deep I made the cut. The

width of the barrel rib is about 0.440” and the sight

dovetail is around 0.400” wide. This is nice because

there is only around 0.020” of empty dovetail cut on ei-

ther side of the sight. It’s barely noticeable with the

slide is closed.

One thing interesting about the sight installation is that I

had to widen the cut 0.006” on either side, 0.012” total.

Even though the sight dovetail is 0.331” wide, there are

flats cut on either side. This means the 65° angle is set

for a dovetail that is approximately 0.342 wide. There is

no way to know the correct dovetail width ahead of time,

so careful widening is needed. After the dovetail was

Nov 3, 2014

Figure 46 - Small gaps are seen on each dovetail corner. This is due to small flats milled on the dovetail edges.

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cut straight through with the cutter, I carefully widened it

0.001” on each side (using the DRO) until I was able to

get the sight started by hand. DP sights are made very

precise, so if you can get it started by hand, you will

most likely be able to easily tap it in place. I don’t think I

will pin it, just a little bit of Loctite will do.

You can see small gaps on either side of the dovetail in

the corners. This is because small flats are milled onto

either side of the dovetail. I don’t think they would be

seen on a normal slide installation, and it is not noticea-

ble here because the slot in the slide covers it up.

Note: Due to the taper of the barrel, it would not natu-

rally sit level in the V-blocks. I used a caliper to meas-

ure the distance from the top of the V-blocks to the top

of the barrel rib at the four corners. I then adjusted the

position by hand until the top of the barrel (previously

flat-topped) was at the same depth at the four corners.

Figure 47 - The front sight installed on the barrel rib.

Jason Lisenbey

61

Today I fitted and installed the

beavertail, hammer, sear, discon-

nector, and thumb safety.

The hammer, sear,

disconnector, sear

spring, and main-

spring all came in a

kit sold by Dawson

Precision. It’s called

the Lite Speed II

Trigger Group, #300-

112A ($130). On first

look, these seemed

to be very nice parts

because they are milled very precisely and the contact

points were already polished (nice). All edges were

nicely chamfered.

The hammer and sear pins would not quite fit into the

frame. You can hammer them in, but we don’t want that.

I already had a 0.110 and 0.156 reamers from the Infini-

ty project, so I used them on the frame so the pins

would drop in. I totally expected the trigger group to not

work correctly, as usual, but after installing them I had a

nice 4 ½ lb. trigger pull! I want to get this lighter for

competition purposes, but I was impressed with these

parts.

The beavertail is by STI, #791-107-100. It is mated with

an STI trigger, #791-000-065. Since I had already

blended the beavertail to the frame and slide, very little

fitting was needed. The tab that stops the trigger did

not need to be trimmed for length. I only needed to

make clearance underneath the tab. Around 10 strokes

with a fine file did the job. This beavertail is a rough fin-

Nov 4, 2014

Figure 48 - The area marked "lug notch" is the only place I had to do any fitting. (This is not the actual safety used.)

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ish so it will need a lot of polishing later, which would

have to be done anyway.

After the trigger components and the beavertail were

fitted, I went to work on the thumb safety. I’m using a

Wilson wide safety, #965-600-106.

Using Figure 48 for a reference, the surface marked “lug

notch” was the only surface that needed fitting. Once I

got the lug notch cut back far enough that it would go

into position, the safety could be forced on by applying

pressure upward. At this point I knew that I didn’t want

to remove very much more. I polished the lug notch

with a stone, creating a slight radius. Without using the

spring and detent on the side of the frame, I polished

with the stone until the safety snaps into place as if the

detent were there. This is the perfect fit, ensuring that

you can reduce sear engagement if you want to, without

worrying about the sear wiggling around with the safety

in the on position.

A note on using the “wide”

safety by Wilson. I grip a

1911 high, with my right

thumb riding on top of the

safety. I don’t think the

wide lever offers anything,

but perhaps it means

something to the competi-

tion shooter. If the shoot-

er does not grip the gun

with their thumb on top of

the safety, the lever may

get in the way. This is

something to consider.

Figure 49 - The STI beavertail safety. Remove metal from the surface indi-cated.

Jason Lisenbey

63

This morning I disassembled the

pistol in preparation for some met-

al polishing. While it is apart, I took the disconnector to

the Cratex wheel to get rid of those edges that stuck up

too far. We’ll see how it works after reassembly.

I had put Dykem on the barrel top locking lugs. After

messing with the assembled gun after a while, you can

see where the front top edge of the lugs were bumping

when going into lock

up. I wonder if this

was the issue when I

thought the #3 link

was slightly too tall.

I’m going to slightly

file these lug corners

and see if there is a

difference when the

gun is reassembled.

The front corners of

the locking lugs that

I’m referring to

should be OK to

mess with since this

won’t affect the strength of lock up.

- I used a file to create about a 1 mm 45 on those edg-

es. In doing so I scratched the barrel up in the recess-

es. That’s more marks to get out later.

With the slide apart, I’m going to round off the bottom

corner of the breech face a little bit. I think this will get

rid of the bump of the disconnector when the slide is go-

ing forward.

Note: The bottom of the breech face has a small 45°

angle on the bottom. I assume this is precisely for the

Nov 5, 2014

Figure 50 - This slight modification is an at-tempt to get the disconnector operating more smoothly.

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disconnector. I began to round it off and all of a sudden

got scared that I was going to mess up the feeding of

the round out of the magazine. I ended up just putting a

slight cut in the center of the edge with the corner of a

file, then sanded it smooth. It’s slightly off-center. This

is as far as I’m willing to go for now.

Figure 53 - An example of crisp lines going away after sanding. Perhaps I need more prac-tice. Notice the top of the vertical cut running into the horizontal cut. See right.

Jason Lisenbey

65

I’m beginning this entry by talking

about some work that was done

last week. I did some sanding to get rid of the machine

marks made in the radius cuts on the slide. All sanding

has been done with 220 grit paper to this point.

First, I worked on the

front and rear slide ser-

rations. The front serra-

tions were made with a

¼” end mill, so I used a

7/32 drill to back the

sand paper. The idea is

to use an undersized

backer to create an ap-

proximate 1/4” when

sandpaper is around it.

This worked well, but

the crisp edges were

softened somewhat. I’m

thinking about leaving

the 220 grit as the finish

in the radiuses.

Next, I used a 11/32 bit as a backer on the rear serra-

tions. Because there are six cuts on each side, I can

really see how much the lines were softened. It is no-

ticeable if you wrapped paper once around the bit for

one flute and wrapped twice for the next flute. These

need to be sanded consistently. Also, you need to keep

your sanding movement perfectly straight or the lines

will suffer. I don’t know if this perfect sanding is possi-

ble unless it is done by machine. I’m not talking about a

Dremel, as this is sure to screw everything up. I mean

something you can put in the spindle of the mill right af-

ter you make the cuts. I don’t know the best way.

Nov 10, 2014

Figure 51 - You can see on the top cut how sanding immediately ruins the crisp lines.

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Right now, I think I’m liking the 220 grit lines in the

flutes. These lines should help to set off the radiuses

against the flat surface of the slide. To get finer, the

best way is to use the same method (and same direc-

tion) with finer sandpaper. I’m sure using a felt bob in a

Dremel will ruin the lines. The felt bob makes for a

good finish, but it needs to be tested on a practice piece

first.

For the next couple of hours, I’m going to finish cleaning

up machine marks in the top flutes, then sand the flat

parts of the slide.

Figure 52 - After a 220 grit sanding. The straight lines are no more. The serrations also lost some of the grippiness.

Jason Lisenbey

67

I’ve decided to not do the 45 de-

gree angle cut on the bottom of the

slide. I don’t think I would like how the bottom of the

front and rear serrations will look after being chamfered.

The disconnector is still giving a bump when the slide

goes forward. A little more shaping (I mean slightly) on

the back side top of the disconnector should help. I

don’t want to cut any more on the breech face. I worry

about feeding issues.

Nov 12, 2014

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Something I forgot to mention the

other day is a little work to the

magazine well. As you can see in Figure 53, the frame

bevel under the aluminum mag well has been altered.

Before, the frame was slightly beveled from the factory.

The problem was (I considered it a problem) the cham-

fer wasn’t enough to prevent a flat spot before the open-

ing. This is something that may cause problems for a

competition shooter. I filed and sanded it to a radius to

eliminate the problem. Functionally, it will work great.

As far as the looks, I’m not so excited. I think that simp-

ly elongating the chamfer would have looked better.

Today I messed around with the slide stop. With a

Dremel, I put a slight divot where I thought the stop

should rest below the slide. I was aiming for

around .020” clearance. All I accomplished was to lo-

cate the divot where the stop rests directly beneath the

slide. I hope this won’t

cause problems.

I polished the plungers

and thumb safety for

smoother operation.

I’m worrying about feed-

ing issues, but I can’t

find my dummy rounds.

I ordered some this

morning and I hope they

get here soon.

I want this pistol to be

operating perfectly be-

fore bluing the parts and

I’m almost out of time.

Nov 13, 2014

Figure 54 - The magazine well under the funnel has been enhanced. A plastic in-sert will fit into this magazine well.

Jason Lisenbey

69

The grips I got from Esmerelda would not fit the frame

with the magazine well in place. This is ideal because it

looks nice to have no gap between the grip and the mag

-well.

I pulled out a sheet of 220 grit and placed it flat on the

table. A few strokes was all it took to fit the grips. After

installing, I noticed the right side grip wasn’t flat on the

bottom. This is not because I sanded a radius. I barely

removed any wood. The grip was sent that way and

now I have altered them. I’ll have to check this in the

future in case I have to make any returns.

Regardless, I’m very happy with the grips. The $100 I

spent is merely a small fraction of the total cost of the

pistol, but they really carry their weight by drawing at-

tention to the gun. People are loving these grips and I

can see they like the pistol better because of them.

Nov 17, 2014

Figure 55 - The right grip panel is not flat on the bottom.

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This week I haven’t been good

about updating this diary. I’ll try to

summarize what I did this week, which is not much.

Feeding Issues

Last weekend I brought home the assembled pistol. I

noticed the ammo I bought to test fire, and decided to

run some ammo though it to test the feeding. I grabbed

a magazine from a .45 1911 because I didn’t bring any

magazines from school.

The ammo went into the magazine ok, and I wasn’t sur-

prised because I had heard about people using 45 mag-

azines in 40 pistols. Well, the magazines didn’t feed the

ammo into the pistol correctly. I was concerned that the

project was about to have a lot of problems, thinking the

problem was most likely the pistol and not the maga-

zines.

I haven’t been able to find the dummy

rounds for .40 cal. I think I loaned them

to someone that decided to keep them

for themselves. I ordered some more

and they came in this week.

At school, I tried the right rounds in the

right magazines. They fed beautifully. I

worried for nothing. It seems pretty

dumb now to think I could use a .45

magazine.

About the magazines themselves. I got

two Tripp Research magazines from

Dawson Precision. They’re pretty ex-

pensive at about $40 a pop. They have

a metal follower, and are single

Nov 21, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

71

stack .40 cal 10-rounders. When you load them, the top

round kind of stands up off of the other rounds below it.

I think this is kind of weird, but so far they are working

great.

Ejector

When I was the dummy rounds through, I realized that I

had never trimmed back the ejector. This ejector is an

extended one and right now it is at the factory length.

Interestingly, it seems to work just fine. Maybe an issue

will show up when test firing.

The dummy rounds were coming out slightly marred on

the case rim. My first thought was the long ejector is

kicking them out with too much force. Andrew was look-

ing at the magazines, and he thinks the lip of the maga-

zine is making the marks. I think he might be right.

We’ll see what the brass looks like when firing live

ammo.

Magwell Insert

This Dawson magwell has a

plastic insert that snaps into

the bottom. I’m tempted to put

it in there, but I think I better

hold off until the gun is fin-

ished. The insert is milled

plastic. Any scratches will

look bad.

Trigger Job

When I first installed the fire

control components, I was sur-

prised when dropped right in

and worked pretty well.

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That is, everything functioned properly and the trigger

pull was actually pretty nice.

Well after working the gun and dry firing it quite a few

times. I took the gun apart and I notice the wear marks

on the sear. The marks showed that the hammer hooks

were contacting the sear on the left side well, but only

grazing the right side. I decided to do something about

it.

I never shelled out the mon-

ey for a sear jig or any kind

of trigger job fixture. So far,

I have been doing it by

hand. In this case I wanted

to precisely stone the sear

so I would be sure to square

up the edge.

George let me borrow his

Brownells/Bob Marvel stoning fixture. I decided pretty

quick that I would never buy this $130 thing. I got my

sear and hammer hooks squared up, but ruined the en-

gagement angles. The design of this fixture will never

allow you to securely hold the parts at the correct angle.

I ended up doing the trick that Sandy Strayer showed

me. I set out a bench stone, and by dragging my sear

across it while rotating my wrist downward, a radius was

made on the sear edge. Forget about the engagement

angles and relief angles.

George has a new fixture coming that is supposed to do

just that. I’ll have to check it out.

Jason Lisenbey

73

Disconnector

The bloody disconnector is still giving me issues. It

functions perfectly, but it just messes with the feel of the

slide operation. If you work the slide slowly, you can

feel the disconnector hit the breech face as the slide

goes forward.

I’ve worked on the breech face as much as I’m willing

to, and I’ve worked over the disconnector with the Kra-

tex wheel as much as I’m willing to. I guess this is as

good as it is going to get. I don’t know what’s wrong.

I know shortening it will help the situation, but that risks

ruining the part. The thing works just fine when the

slide is racked with authority, so I don’t know why it

bothers me so much.

Talking about it here makes me realize that I need to

play with the leaf spring some.

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This is as far as I’m going to get

this semester.

I know for a fact that I could have

done a lot more work, but I don’t have

much money right now to put into my

projects and I want to be sure that I

make the right decisions. I’m not sure

if I’ll be happy with the decision to take

it slow.

What is left to be done is mostly metal

prep and finish work. I’m pretty sure I

want the pistol to be hot blued. Which

parts are to be polished or matte is still

up in the air. I’m toying with the idea

of getting the pistol painted with

GunKote. I like the idea of having a

red frame and stainless slide.

The finishing will have to be done after

the pistol is test fired. I think I want to

have around 200 rounds through it be-

fore I start to make it pretty. A lot of

things are going to need tweaking. A

few of them are: recoil spring, ejector,

extractor, magazines, and slide stop.

If I decide to go with the hot blue

method, I can get one of the 2nd year

students to blue it for me. I’ll do the

prep work and all they will have to do

is dunk the parts. It will give them

something to invoice for a grade.

Well, here are some pics of what the

gun looks like now.

Nov 24, 2014

Jason Lisenbey

75